Avionics

Most popular flight decks

  • Small aircraft: Garmin G1000 and G3000, Primus Apex, Avidyne Entegra.
  • Larger aircraft: Garmin G3000 and G5000, Primus Epic, Rockwell Collins Pro Line.

Examples

  • Cessna 172: Garmin 1000
  • Vision: Garmin 3000
  • Piper M600: Garmin 3000
  • Piper M500 / M350: Garmin 1000 NXi
  • DA40/42/50/62: Garmin 1000 NXi
  • King Air 260/360 Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion Avionics Suite
  • Denali: Garmin G3000
  • Baron: G1000
  • Bonanza G36: G1000
  • SR22: G1000 (early models used Avidyne Entegra)

Garmin

Garmin is playing a big role in general aviation. Garmin covers these 5 segments (ordered by growth rate in 2020Q1), Aviation is not the largest however is the most profitable.

Products:

  • Flight Decks (high-end to low-end)
    • Garmin G3000 (variations: G2000/G5000): for light turbine aircraft
    • Garmin G1000: for small aircraft. Most common. No touchscreen.
    • Garmin G500 / G600: touchscreen.
    • Garmin G3X
  • Autopilot: GFC 500 / 600 / 700.
  • GPS / NAV / COMM: GTN 750 > GTN 650 > GNS 430/530
  • Transponder: GTX 345/335/325.
  • GPS / Transponder: GNX 375.

Vacuum pump can be replaced by avionics: e.g. G5's GI-275

Honeywell

Honeywell avionics for commercial airliners (e.g. B777)

Collins

A subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies.

  • Pro Line

Avidyne

Glass Cockpit

  • PFD: Primary Flight Display.
  • MFD: Multi-function display.
  • ND: navigation display
  • EIS: Engine Information System, or Engine Indication System
  • EICAS: engine indicating and crew alerting system
  • ECAM: Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor is defined as is a system on Airbus aircraft for monitoring and displaying engine and aircraft system information to the pilots. In the event of a malfunction, it will display the fault and may also display the appropriate steps of the remedial action. The Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) is the Airbus version of an enhanced Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System (EICAS) system.
  • EFIS: An Electronic Flight Instrument System is a flight deck instrument display system in which the display technology used is electronic rather than electromechanical.

Radar and Transponders

Radar

  • Primary Radar: ground-based, detects objects, to show dots in ATC
  • Secondary Radar (Secondary Surveylance Radar or SSR): ground-based, asks the transponder to transmit a return signal. From ground to airborne at 1030 MHz, from airborne to groun at 1090 MHz.
  • Traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS): airborne system, interprets transponder returns of nearby aircraft, to show in displays and warn collisions.

Modes

  • Mode A: transmits an identifying code only, no altitude ("On").
  • Mode C: with altitude ("Alt").
  • Mode S: with altitude + data exchange; use 24-bit (more than 16 million codes, comparing to 4096 codes in classic modes); use data link communication.

Special Sqawk code:

  • 1200: VFR default
  • 7500: Highjik
  • 7600: Radio failure
  • 7700: Emergency

ADS-B

Part of NextGen.

  • Automatic: works in background.
  • Dependent: depends on other aircraft being equipped (FAA mandates ADS-B Out in 2020).
  • Surveillance: to track other aircraft.
  • Broadcast: it sends out its position and velocity.

In vs Out

  • Out: aircraft report position, velocity, altitude once per second, the 2020 mandate.
  • In: receive weather and traffic, not part of the 2020 mandate.

ADS-B Out standards:

  • 1090ES (Extended Squitter): 1090 MHz with extended squitter; same as Mode A/C trasnponder; Mode S transponders can be upgraded to ES transponders by adding a WAAS GPS and upgrading software; accepted outside the US; above 18,000 ft; for turboprops and jets
    • In: detect other 1090ES equipped aircraft, or receive traffic from ground stations; no weather
  • 978UAT (Universal Access Transceiver): only allowed in the US and only below 18,000 ft; for general aviation / pistons mostly.
    • In: detect other 978UAT equipped aircraft, or receive traffic from ground stations; can receive ADS-B weather

Features:

  • very low cost.
  • very high accuracy performance and control on large airspace.
  • simple ground station design.
  • ADS-B uses a unique code assigned to the airframe for it's life; squawk code is temporary.
  • With ADS-B, pilots can see what controllers see: displays showing other aircraft in the sky.
  • Cockpit displays also pinpoint hazardous weather and terrain, and give pilots important flight information, such as temporary flight restrictions.

Link: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/adsb

ADS-C

Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Contract (ADS-C). ADS-C is similar to ADS-B, but is used primarily for making position reports.

Auto pilot

FLC (Flight Level Change) vs VS (Vertical Speed) mode: FLC mode maintains airspeed during a climb or descent, while VS mode maintains a specific vertical speed.

Others

J.P. Instruments EDM-930: The JPI EDM-930 Complete Engine Data Management System, is a Primary System to Replace Analog Engine Gauges with an LCD Display.